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February 19th

THE BANQUET OF LIFE

“Remember to conduct yourself in life as if at a banquet. As

something being passed around comes to you, reach out your hand

and take a moderate helping. Does it pass you by? Don’t stop it. It

hasn’t yet come? Don’t burn in desire for it, but wait until it

arrives in front of you. Act this way with children, a spouse,

toward position, with wealth—one day it will make you worthy of

a banquet with the gods.”

—EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION, 15

he next time you see something you want, remember Epictetus’s
metaphor of life’s banquet. As you find yourself getting excited, ready
to do anything and everything to get it—the equivalent of reaching across
the table and grabbing a dish out of someone’s hands—just remind yourself:
that’s bad manners and unnecessary. Then wait patiently for your turn.
This metaphor has other interpretations too. For instance, we might
reflect that we’re lucky to have been invited to such a wonderful feast
(gratitude). Or that we should take our time and savor the taste of what’s on
offer (enjoying the present moment) but that to stuff ourselves sick with
food and drink serves no one, least of all our health (gluttony is a deadly
sin, after all). That at the end of the meal, it’s rude not to help the host clean
up and do the dishes (selflessness). And finally, that next time, it’s our turn
to host and treat others just as we had been treated (charity).
Enjoy the meal!